In a decision taken this Tuesday, 26, in Brussels, the member countries of the European Union (EU) approved the relaxation of environmental standards applied to farmers, meeting a demand that arose amid protests carried out by the sector in various parts of the European bloc.
The issue was the main topic of discussion during the meeting of EU agriculture ministers in the Belgian capital.
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In response to the wave of protests taking place from Portugal to Poland, the proposal to relax the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in force since 2023, was presented in mid-March and caused surprise.
The approved text seeks to alleviate farmers’ environmental obligations and foresees eliminating the rule that imposes the reservation of at least 4% of productive land in fallow (rest period for the soil to recover and restore its nutrients.) or as in non-productive areas, being replaced by simple “diversification”.
Therefore, the maintenance of permanent pastures must be considerably relaxed.
Another item of this flexibility is to make land with less than ten hectares exempt from the inspection associated with environmental standards.
Read also: “Farmers in Poland throw tons of manure in front of the house of the leader of Parliament”
Proposal will be forwarded to Parliament
Approved with few changes by Agriculture ministers, the reform will now be forwarded to the European Parliament for the final decision.
While Copa-Cogeca, an organization that represents European agricultural unions, praised the “greater flexibility” in the rules, considering that they take into account local specificities, on the eve of the decision, 16 environmental NGOs appealed to the European Commission to withdraw the legislative proposal.
According to environmental activists, the planned changes represent a setback.
Protests in Brussels
This Tuesday, while the ministers were meeting, new protests were registered in Brussels, with columns of tractors blocking streets close to the area where the European institutions are located.
According to police, approximately 250 tractors and heavy agricultural equipment participated in the demonstrations, blocking streets, throwing potatoes and even setting hay bales on fire.
Security forces fired tear gas and used water jets to clear protesters; a man was arrested.
